‘Walking Dead’ Cast Urges AMC to Meet Lauren Cohan’s Salary Demands

The Kingdom and The Hilltop are standing together. Weeks after news broke that The Walking Dead star Lauren Cohan might leave the series behind, co-star Khary Payton has delivered a surprisingly frank message to AMC, calling on the network to “pay the woman.”

The trouble started when Cohan made herself available for new TV pilots, in what was seen as a negotiating tactic for AMC to re-up her contract for Season 9. Cohan has since signed to new ABC pilot Whiskey Cavalier; making at least some exit from The Walking Dead more likely. The actress was not specifically seeking pay parity with co-stars Andrew Lincoln and Norman Reedus, but was reportedly unhappy with AMC’s offers regardless. That unhappiness now extends to co-star Khary Payton, who took to Instagram to suggest that AMC was indeed low-balling Cohan:

Payton isn’t the first Walking Dead player to comment on the as-yet-unresolved dispute. Back in February, star Seth Gilliam indicated his support for Cohan keeping her salary bid competitive, but told TVGuide “I think it would be a loss for the show, but the show seems to find a way to go on [after] losing important characters and fantastic actors all throughout the years.” More recently, departing showrunner Scott Gimple told The Hollywood Reporter he was “pretty positive” a deal with Cohan would be struck without compromising her availability.

The ninth season has not yet gone into production, so stay tuned to see whether Maggie has a sudden departure from The Walking Dead.